Holter monitors are used to determine if you are having any rhythm disturbances (irregular heartbeats) or to monitor your heart when your medications have been changed. It is prescribed when you have such symptoms as dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, fainting spells, or chest pain. Heartbeats that are too fast or too slow may cause light-headedness or fainting. Many times these symptoms occur too infrequently to be detected by an EKG. The Holter monitor is a continuous EKG recording for 24 hours which is likely to record your rhythm disturbance. EKG leads are attached to your chest and connected to your portable monitor which is worn on a strap or belt. You will be given a diary to record your symptoms and activities so they may be correlated with any abnormalities in your EKG.

Event Recorders In the event your Holter monitor did not capture your rhythm disturbance, there are monitors that have been developed to wear for 2 to 4 weeks at a time in order to catch symptoms which are fleeting in nature. Using a new technology called loop recording, the patient can record events that have just passed, by pressing the record button. Since the recorder is constantly recording, when you press the record button it stores the last 30 seconds of EKG as well as the next 30 seconds. So even if you press the button after the symptom passes, you can still be recorded.